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If you could have any McIntosh amp, which one would it be.

Gibson 2021

Gibson 2021

New Member
If you could have any McIntosh amp, which one would it be and why? And of course which McIntosh preamp along with it.

For me it would be the MC901 amps and a C2700 pre amp. To that is the ultimate McIntosh audio setup. The combo of tubes in the mids and highs and a solid state for the lows.

If I wanted to be more conservative with money, it would be the MC312 and the C53,
 
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I've had pretty much every McIntosh amp that I ever wanted at this point, but of course compared to most I'm shooting low. I've owned a bunch of them that I really liked, and the MC30's and MC240 I presently have pretty much scratches every itch. If a MC225 become available at some point I would love one of those. But that's about it. I'm not a modern gear guy, so no matter how great and special the later amps are, and I have no doubt they are, they're not for me.

Pretty boring I know.
 
To be quite honest, the 2155 that I've had for decades now fits the bill quite nicely. As a Mac owner since the late 70's, I've navigated through a 2505, 2125, eventually landing on the 2155. At one point I briefly had a 2205 as part of a flip. There was no sonic reason to permanently swap those out. Frankly I've never had the reason to move on, it's a perfect fit for the system and environment I use it in.
 
I would love to try 6 MC 3500 MK II's with my Tri-amped speakers. I heard a few pair of my speakers with passive crossovers with the original 3500's and they were dynamically fantastic. Or Maybe four 3500's for the bottom and mids with my two MC 830's for the tweeters. It would be fun to try 2 MC 3500 MK II's with my XRT 28's.
 
I don’t need anything heavier or more powerful than the MC2150 I have. Of course meters would be lovely so I might like an MC2155 or MC7150 or MC152 if the right opportunity came along.

The C33 preamp does everything I could want for a stereo system. A C40 could be better on paper but the price delta isn’t worth it to me.

In short, I’m happy and grateful about what I have.
 
The gear in my signature outspecs my own hearing abilities and the noise level contained in almost all program material I've ever heard. Even on a brand new (2022) DG CD release of John Williams conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in performances of soundtrack music he composed for Raiders, Star Wars etc. While the audio quality is absolutely first rate, audible noise is clearly present so pointless to upgrade on the basis of S/N improvement. Output capability in both systems is plenty for my purposes; anything more powerful would be wasted on me. The equipment I have now is also the right physical size my audio furniture is able to accommodate; amplifiers 9/+ inches tall and 20/+ inches deep are out of the question.

So the answer as to the perfect McIntosh amplifier(s) for me are what I have already. :)
 
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